Push connector for vehicles



July 1, 1941. QSMAN 2,247,664-

' PUSH CONNECTOR FOR VEHICLES Filed March 25, 1940 INVEN'i'OR. v (Q0 .1

ATTORNEYS Patented July 1, 1941 PUSH CONNECTOR FOR VEHICLES Ralph T.Osman, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Koehrlng Company, ration Milwaukee,Wis., a corpo- Application March 25, 1940, Serial No. 325,917

1 Claim.

driving force from a tractor vehicle to a dirt scraper and haulingvehicle.

The type of dirt scraper for which this invention is particularlyadapted comprises a trailer scraper body supported at one end on awheeled axle and at its other end on a traction vehicle. During thescraping action, the scraper body is lowered into contact with theground for an excavating action and a load of dirt is scraped into thescraper body and the body is thereafter elevated and the load 01' dirtis hauled away. The power needed for the scraping or excavating actionis much greater than is needed for the hauling action and to provide thetraction vehicle constituting a part of the scraper with a motor ofsuflicient power to accommodate for both the scraping and haulingactions would be exceedingly costly.

Accordingly, it is advisable that an auxiliary power vehicle such as atractor be employed for assisting in the scraping action and that thetraction vehicle to which the scraper body is connected be provided witha motor of suflicient power to take care of the hauling action, thetraction vehicle motor being utilized to assist the tractor during thescraping action. In this manner, several scrapers may be used on asingle job and only one tractor need be provided for assisting in thescraping action, thereby materially decreasing the cost of the powerequipment required.

In order that the tractor may be employed to assist in the scraping orexcavating action, it is necessary to provide parts on the tractor andscraper which are engageable to transmit a driving force from thetractor to the scraper. However, by reason of irregularities in thesurface of the ground on which the vehicles are being operated, there isatendency 'for such parts to move out of engagement and permit otherparts of the equipment to come into contact and be damaged by suchcontact. -Moreover, when the scraper is being used in an excavatingoperation, where the scraper comprises a trailer vehicle connected to atraction vehicle, there is sometimes a tendency for the scraper body tomove out of its desired path of travel as directed by the steeringmechanism on the traction vehicle constituting a part of the scraper.

Accordingly,-one of the principal objects of this invention is toprovide a push connector having engageable parts connected to thescraper body and a tractor for transmitting a driving force from thetractor to the scraper body together with instmmentalities forinterlocking out of engagement during the time the driving force isbeing transmitted.

A further object is to provide a push connector for transmitting forcefrom a tractor to a scraper comprising a bumper member mounted on thescraper vehicle and a push plate mounted on the tractor and having aflange part interlockingly engageable with the bumper for preventingrelative lateral movement 01 the bumper with respect to the tractor outof engagement with the push plate on the tractor.

A further object is to provide a push connector for transmitting forcefrom a tractor to a trailer scraper body by which the direction oftravel of the trailer scraper body may be controlled from the tractor.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course 01' the following description.

In the drawing, there is shown a preferred embodiment oi .the invention.In this showing:

Figure 1 is a broken away view of a scraper and a tractor, showing inperspective the parts employed for transmitting a driving force from thetractor to the scraper.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view oi the driving connection shown inFigure 1, parts thereof being broken away, and parts being such parts toprevent movement of such parts shown in section; and,

Figure 3 is a broken away perspective view of a pusher plate and bumperindicating the position of the bumper member when in inter-lockingengagement with parts of the pusher plate.

Referring to the drawing, the letter A designates a tractor, a partthereof being broken away, which is employed for transmitting a drivingforce to a scraper designated by the letter B, a part thereof beingbroken away. The tractor.A may be of any construction provided withtraction supports C connected to conventional steering mechanismprovided on such vehicles for controlling the direction of travel of thetractor A independent of the direction of travel of the scraper B Thescraper B is preferably of the type illustrated and described in theoopending application 01' George A. Vaughn, filed November 14, 1939,Serial Number 304,427. It will be understood, however, that thisinvention is not limited to any particular construction of vehicle towhich it is desired to transmit a driving force from another vehicle,the invention being limited to the driving connection designated as awhole by the letter D which is employed for transmitting a driving forcefrom the vehicle A to the vehicle B.

Referring to the scraper B, the part shown provides a rear support for ascraper body (not shown) which is connected at its other end to atraction vehicle constituting a part of the scraper which is used forhauling away dirt which has bee scra into the scraper a manner,

n pad and prevent movement of such parts out g well known in the art.The part shown comprises a supporting frame i having links 2 and 8pivotally connected thereto, the scraper'body (not shown) beingpivotally connected to the links I and 3 to permit raising and loweringmovement of the scraper body with respect to the supportin frame I. Inthis manner, the scraper body (not shown) may be raised and lowered withrespect to the ground and in a sense is a trailer vehicle with respecttothe traction vehicle to which it is connected at its front end andwhich comprises a part of the scraper B. The supporta ing frame I ispivotally mounted on an axle 4- carrying wheels I and has a pivotalmovement bumper I in engagement with the pusher plate engagement whenthe tractor A is being used imparted thereto dining raising and loweringmovements'of the scraper body. 1

" A bumper, indicated as a whole by, the numeral I I, and constituting apart ,of the driving connection D, isirigidly connected to thesupporting frame I and projects rearwardly with respect to the scraper Bas best shown in Figure 1. The

- bumper I vcomprises a supporting member I and hollow sleeve-likemember rigidly secured to a plate 8 which is an integral part of thesupport- "ing frame I. The b1nnper member I is provided with an inwardlyextending sleeve member II which is slidably receivable in thesupporting sleeve member I. A coil spring II is mounted within thesupporting sleeve I and the sleeve II, and abuts against the plate I andthe bumper part 8 to maintain the bumper .part 8 in an outward positionwith respect to the plate 8 and the sleeve 1. Bolts I! having nuts I!engageable with the plate I are integrally secured to the sleeve II asby welding to the sleeve II for limiting outward movement of thebumper Iwith respect to the plate 9, the bolts l2 being passed through openingsin the plate I to permit inward movement of the bumper 8 and sleeve IIwith respect to the plate I and sleeve I.

The bumper I is adapted to transmit a driving force to the scraper Bthrough the supporting frame I. The spring II is compressible upon theapplication of such a driving force to absorb the shocks which wouldotherwise be transmitted directly to the supporting frame I upon theinitial application of such driving force to the bumper I.

The driving connection D also includes a pusher plate, indicated as awhole by the numeral II, and comprising a substantially flat plate IIhaving flanges l I integrally secured to the peripheral edges thereofand extending outwardly therefrom with respect to the tractor A. Thepusher plate H is connected to the tractor A by supporting members I!extending inwardly from the supporting plate H and rigidly secured tothe pusher plate I and the frame of the tractor A.

In operation, to transmit a driving force from the tractor A to thescraper B, it is merely necessary to bring the surface I! of the pusherplate I II into engagement with the bumper I and the tractor A may thenbe used to impart a driving force to the scraper B. The area of thesurface i5 is considerably larger than the area of the end II of thebumper 8 to permit movement of the bumper 8 with respect to the surfaceII. ,Upon movement of. the bumper 8 to a position adjacent theperipheral edges of the surface II,

the bumper 8 will interlockingly engage with the flanges II to preventmovement of the bumper 8 out of engagement with the surface II. In thismanner, the flanges II operate to maintain the "abumpr part 8.Thesuppoi'tingmember I isa transmit the driving forcetothescraper B;

Since the scraper B is in a sense a er vehicle, it will be understoodthat there will at times be a tendency for thewheels I and the rear partof the scraper B to move out of the path of travel, as normallydetermined by the traction vehicle which supports the scraper B at itsfront end. This condition frequently results where the scraper B isbeing operatedon a sloping surface and there is a tendency of the rearwheels I and the rearpartot the scraper Btoslidedownsuchsurface.Insuchcase,the driving connection D may be used to control the path oftravel of the rear of the scraper B from the steering mechanism providedon the tractor A. By reason of the interlocking. en-

gagement of the bumper I with the pusher plate It, the drivingconnection D may be employed to keep the scraper B in line with thetraction support provided at the forward end of the scraper B. Thisaction is best illustrated by the movement of the scraper B with respectto the tractor A will thereby be prevented.

Accordingly, it will be apparent that the pusher plate II may be used tocontrol the path of travel of the scraper B'by reason of theinterlocking engagement of the bumper I with the pusher plate II inaddition to preventing move-.

ment of the bumper I out of engagement with the pusher plate II byreason of irregularities in the surface of the ground over which the vtractor A and scraper B are being operated.

Although the invention has been described as particularly adapted fortransmitting a driving force to a scraper, it will be understood thatthe bumper I and pusher plate i4 may be used in any case where it isdesired to transmit a driving force from one vehicle to another withoutdeparting from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

Driving connecting means for transmitting, a.

driving forcebetween a driving and driven vehicle comprising a pushingdevice including a substantially flat perpendicular plate provided withan outer flat pushing surface, a bumper member adapted to be supportedby a driven vehicle and having a portion adapted to engage and shiftover the surface of the flat plate incident to the pushing action of thelatter when carried by a driving vehicle, supporting means for the saidflat plate structure to carry same upon a driving vehicle, said flatplate structure being provided at its edges with flange portions toresist the disengagement of the bumper member from the flat pushingsurface ofthe flat plate, said flat plate being of many times the areaof the bumper member so that the latter may freely shift over thesurface of the plate in the pushing action of the latter withouttendency of the plate to shift the bumper member in a vertical orhorizontal direction or combinations of such directions.

RAIPH T. OSMAN.

